Agony of HND recruits in NSCDC

Sir: Recruits in the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) are using this medium to urge President Bola Tinubu, Senate President, Speaker, House of Representatives, Head of Service and all well-meaning Nigerians to investigate the issue of disparities in the NSCDC.

We wrote the Confirmation and Promotion, COMPRO, exam in 2014, the statutory year to be confirmed according to Public Service Rules, however, we were not advanced, properly placed or promoted after passing the COMPRO. Fast forward to 2016, there was a replacement exercise and all officers then recruited as Assistant Superintendent of Corps II (ASCII) were all given automatic promotion to the next rank while all HND holders recruited in 2012 remained at Inspector level, (level seven).

What is more, HND holders who have been recruited since 2012 held the position of Inspectors until 2018, when NSCDC implemented the removal of HND/BSc dichotomy, which was implemented in other paramilitary agencies under the Ministry of Interior in 2016 (two years earlier).

Going by observation, the majority of our counterparts recruited in 2012 with a BSc are now hanging the rank of Superintendent (level 11) while up to 95 per cent of us, HND holders are still hanging one star ASCII (level eight) up till now, 2023. After being denied promotion exams for many years, the year 2022 made it the fourth consecutive year that we wrote a promotion examination without any tangible result.

For instance, all other categories of personnel that came into the system with SSCE, NCE and Trade Test Certificates have been writing promotion exams as and when due except the holders of HND certificates.

Also, some junior officers who were recruited in 2012 with CAIII (the least rank) who later got themselves enrolled in part-time degree programme were not only converted to the senior rank but also got promoted to two-star ASCII (level nine), thereby placing them above us that were recruited with HND certificates in the same year.

Since April 16, 2012 (11 years down the line), when we were nominally enlisted into NSCDC, the majority of us don’t know how a promotion letter looks. Even with the so-called 2016 advancement, up till now, there is no letter issued to that effect.

This brings us to the question: Why are the 2012 intakes, who are HND holders in NSCDC being badly treated compared to their mates in other sister agencies under the Ministry of Interior? It will be recalled that we were recruited into the NSCDC in the year 2012 with the rank of Inspector of Corps (level seven) alongside NCE holders.

From the foregoing, we have run out of patience for imposing on us career stagnancy after 11 years of enlistment into the Corps. There is no gainsaying this is alien to the Public Service Rule which stipulates that workers have a maximum of three years before they get promoted to the next level.

We do not wish to write any promotion exam this year as we have been shortchanged in previous years. To restore our dampened morale, all that we need now is to be properly placed on the right rank, which will reflect our years of service. We shall be very grateful if this is expeditiously considered.

We, therefore, plead for justice as security personnel. We call on the Nigerian Government to come to our help because we can no longer meet family demands and to a large extent, efficiency on the job is weighing.
Rahman Edwin, an Assistant Superintendent of Corps II, wrote for all concerned NSCDC 2012 HND recruits, from Ogun State.